MATKA AND KOTIK 
 
 Eale of tlje 
 
 DAVID STARR JORDAN^ 
 
 President of Leland Stanford Jr. University, and of the California 
 
 Academy of Sciences; United States Commissioner in 
 
 Charge of Fur Seal Investigations. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 THE WHITAK.ER & RAY COMPANY 
 
 (INCORPORATED) 
 
 1903
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1897,
 
 To MY ASSOCIATES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BERING SEA COMMISSIONS FOR 1896, 
 WITH PLEASANT MEMORIES OF THE 
 
 TWIN MlST-IsLANDS AND 
 
 THE ICY SEA. 
 
 D'ARCY WENTWORTH THOMPSON, 
 
 LEONHARD STEJNEGER, 
 FREDERFC AUGUSTUS LUCAS, 
 
 JAMES MELVILLE MACOUN, 
 
 JEFFERSON FRANKLIN MOSER, 
 
 GERALD EDWIN H. BARRETT-HAMILTON, 
 
 CHARLES HASKINS TOWNSEND, 
 
 GEORGE ARCHIBALD CLARK, 
 
 JOSEPH MURRAY, 
 ANDREW HALKETT. 
 
 1284620
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In the illustration of this little book, I 
 am indebted to Assistant Secretary Charles S. 
 Hamlin, of the United States Treasury, and to 
 Hon. John J. Brice, United States Fish Com- 
 missioner, for the use of photographs taken, for 
 the various Bering Sea Commissions, by Mr. 
 Charles H. Townsend, Dr. Barton W. Evermann, 
 Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, and Mr. N. B. Miller. 
 For certain photographs taken by Mr. Harry 
 Chichester, I am indebted to the courtesy of 
 Mr. Joseph Stanley-Brown. The drawings show- 
 ing the life of the beach-masters were made 
 by Miss Chloe Frances Lesley, a student in 
 Zoology in Leland Stanford Jr. University. By 
 the courtesy of Prof. D'Arcy W. Thompson and 
 Mr. James M. Macoun, I have used certain photo- 
 graphs taken by the Commissioners of Great 
 Britain and of Canada. To the author of " The 
 Beaches of Lukannon," I gratefully make any 
 acknowledgment the reader may deem proper. 
 
 DAVID STARR JORDAN. 
 
 Palo Alto, California, 
 
 January 19, 1897.
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Matka, ~. . '' j .''/" Front<st>iece 
 
 (The Reef Rookery, photograph by Charles H. Townsend, 1892 ) 
 
 " Blue with harebells and spring violets, to the black 
 
 Tolstoi Head," 15 
 
 (Tolstoi Head, seen across the mouth of the Salt Lagoon, from 
 Asascardano, Zapadni Head in the distance.) 
 
 "Old Atagh had come back with the rest," .... 17 
 
 (Palata Rookery, Medni Island, 1892, B. W. Evermann.) 
 
 "When he had roared, he sat down on the snow and 
 
 groaned," 18 
 
 (Lukanin Rookery, C. H. Townsend.} 
 
 "They slept on Zoltoi sands when they were bachelors," 19 
 
 (Zoltoi Sands, C. H. Townsend. ) 
 
 "Pretending not to see Atagh any more," .... 20 
 (Zapadni of St. George. ) 
 
 "They lounged about him in pretty attitudes," ... 21 
 (Zoltoi Bluffs, Harry Chichester.} 
 
 "The silken-haired ones," 22 
 
 (Zoltoi Bluffs, Harry Chichester.) 
 
 "'Oh, what a beach-master he is!'" 25 
 
 (Vostochni, N. B. Miller.} 
 
 " It is always afternoon," 26 
 
 (Lukanin, Harry Chicliester.}
 
 8 List of Ilhistrations. 
 
 "One sleeps much on the Mist-Islands," 20 
 
 (Polovina, C. H. Towiisend.) 
 
 <c Polsi, who watched from the rock above, began to 
 
 laugh," 3* 
 
 (The Reef, C. H. Towmend.) 
 
 "Time for Kotik to learn to swim," " 35 
 
 (Tolstoi Sands, Harry Chichester.) 
 
 " The twin Smoke-Islands which sputter day and night," 36 
 
 (New Bogoslof, 1892, first rose from the sea Oct. 28, 1883, 
 
 N. B. Miller.) 
 
 "Old Amogada, with the long teeth," 37 
 
 (From a mounted walrus, Miss L. Bernie Gallaher.) 
 
 The young beach-master had courted Matka, ... 38 
 
 (The Reef, C. H. Town send.) 
 
 "One day Matka came ashore." 39 
 
 (Polovina, C. H Town send.) 
 
 Zoltoi Bay, 40 
 
 (7 M. Macoun.} 
 
 On Zoltoi Dunes, 42 
 
 (J. M. M.noitii.) 
 
 "No more life and bustle on the cliffs," 44 
 
 (Driveway of Fur Seals, from Vodopad over the mountains of 
 Medni, L Stejneger.) 
 
 "Rollicking away, like the jolly old boys they were," . 45 
 
 (Palata, Medni Island, B. W. Evermann.) 
 
 "Polsi tried to look strong and brave," 46 
 
 (Zoltoi Sands, C. H. Townsend.) 
 
 "Stayed at Tolstoi, till every one else was gone," . 47 
 
 (On Tolstoi Head, C. H. Townsend.) 
 
 "On Zoltoi Sands when they were off duty," ... 48 
 
 (J. M. .\fafoun.)
 
 List of Illustrations. 9 
 
 "Atagh and Unga came back, rollicking and roaring," 49 
 (Palata, Medni Island, B. W. Evermann.) 
 
 "When the great ice comes," ,. 50 
 
 (East Landing, near Kitovi, in May, Dr. Otto Voss.} 
 
 " As though a great city had risen from the sea," . . 51 
 (Zapadni of St. George, C. H. Town send.} 
 
 "This is Shishaldin; there the Storm King has his 
 
 kitchen," 52 
 
 (Shishaldin, A*. B. Miller.) 
 
 "The white volcano steams and puffs," 53 
 
 (Makushinand Cape Cheerful, Unalaska, Harry Chichesier.) 
 
 "Ungeskelligh, which means the place for bachelors," 54 
 (Zoltoi Sands, N. B. Miller.) 
 
 "To be driven along in a crowd," 55 
 
 (Zoltoi Sands, C. H. Townsend.) 
 
 "Not pleasant to tell the story of Asascardario," . . 57 
 
 (Tolstoi Drive, C. H. Townsend.) 
 
 " The twin Storm-Islands in the thicker mist," ... 58 
 (Sikatchuiskaya, Medni, L. Stejneger.) 
 
 "Full of the joy of the great sands and the sea," . . 59 
 (Zoltoi Sands, C. H. Townsend.) 
 
 " No rocks to hide under and they cannot get out of 
 
 the way," 60 
 
 (Tolstoi Sands Trampled Pups, J. M.Macoun.) 
 
 "Shuffled down to Zoltoi Sands and swam away," . . 61 
 (Zoltoi Sands, C. H. Townsend.) 
 
 "The hollowed-out cliffs of Zapalata," 62 
 
 (Zapalata, Medni Island.) 
 
 "The great Smoke-Island has ceased to roar," ... 64 
 
 (Old Bogoslof, rose from the r,ca 1768 N. B. Miller.)
 
 10 List of Illustrations. 
 
 ''The ships of the Pirate Kings," .....".. .66 
 
 (Unalaska Harbor Seized Schooners, "Onward," "Carolina." 
 "Thornton," and "Angel Dolly," A'. D. Miller.} 
 
 "Swarm in the icy sea," , ... 67 
 
 (Unalaska Bay Sealing Fleet, C. H. Townsend.) 
 
 "Atagh was sleeping yet," 68 
 
 (Tolstoi Sands, Harry Lliiclustcr. f 
 
 41 The cries of the little ones go up day and night,'' . 69 
 
 (Starving Pup Zapadni of St. George, D. W. Thompson and 
 A. Marrett.) 
 
 PEN SKETCHES. 
 (Chive F. Lesley.) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "Calling across the surf day after day," . . . . . 16 
 
 "The little chutchki birds sang loudly," 17 
 
 "The mightiest of all the beach-masters," . . . . 18 
 
 ""Then Atagh knew that they must fight," .... 19 
 
 "The black-zoned rock-fish," . . . .-..". . . . 20 
 
 " Like spectres in the great rollers," . ^ . . . . 21 
 
 "Bit him in the throat till Atagh roared again," ... 22 
 
 "Boys are so silly; they don't go into society," ... 23 
 
 "I knew Matka before Kotik was born," ..... . 24 
 
 Isogh, the hair seal, 25 
 
 "But he never looked back to see how she fell," . . 26 
 
 "When Atagh was fighting, Matka would lift Kotik 
 
 gently," 28
 
 
 List of Illustrations. 1 1 
 
 "Matka never seemed to look at Kotik either," ... 29 
 
 "'I do not like you,' said Kotik," 30 
 
 "Don't you see what heavy responsibilities I have?" . 33 
 
 (Zoltoi Bluffs, from a photograph by Harry Chichester.) 
 
 "The yellow Atka-fish with the black zones," ... 35 
 
 "The purple squid, which tastes like peaches and 
 
 cream," 36 
 
 (From a specimen' thrown on deck of the " Bobrik" in a 
 storm off Komandorski.) 
 
 "Rising and falling with the waves," 37 
 
 "A long ribbon of kelp in his teeth," 38 
 
 "Tumbling them over the cliff till the right one 
 
 reached her," 39 
 
 " Kotik went over with a splash," 40 
 
 Eichkao, the blue fox, 41 
 
 "And then he learned the dolphin leap," 42 
 
 "Old Sivutch himself was disturbed, and roared sleepily," 44 
 
 (Tolstoi Point, St. George Young Male Sea-lions from a 
 
 photograph by Harry Chichester.} 
 
 The pollock-fish, 45 
 
 "Orca, the Great Killer," .49 
 
 "Under the crest of a breaking wave," 54 
 
 "Old Epatka, the sea-parrot," 63 
 
 "Dead on the shining sands they call Zoltoi, the 
 
 golden," 64 
 
 " Gavarushka tried to take her eyes," 65
 
 12 List of Illustrations. 
 
 "The decks of the schooners, smeared with their milk 
 
 and their blood, : ' 66 
 
 "To the islands of the Four Mountains they have found 
 
 their way," 67 
 
 "The dreary days have come," 67 
 
 St. Paul Island, Pribilof Group, Bering Sea, Alaska, . 7 1 
 
 ( After Joseph Stanley-Brown)
 
 PERSONS. 
 
 ATAGH, a beach-niaster, homing on Tolstoi Mys. 
 MATKA, his wife. 
 KOTIK, their child. 
 UNO A, Atagh's brother. 
 
 POLSI (short for Polusikatch), Matka's brother. 
 HOLOSTIAK, Kotik's elder brother. 
 MIND A, Kotik's sister. 
 LAKUTHA, Kotik's sister. 
 EXXATHA, Matka's sister. 
 AXXAK, Ennatha's child. 
 IMXAK, a beach-master. 
 
 APOLLON BOWEDURFSKY, Chief of the Mist-Islands. 
 ISOGH, the hair seal. 
 AMOGADA, the walrus. 
 EICHKAO, the blue fox. 
 S'VUTCH, the gray sea-lion. 
 KAGUA, his wife. 
 CHIGNOTTO, the sea-otter. 
 BOBRIK, her son. 
 EPATKA, the sea-parrot. 
 CHUTCHKI, the least auk. 
 GAVARUSHK.A, the burgomaster gull. 
 ORCA, the Great Killer. 
 
 Chorus of beach-masters, sea-lions, chutchki birds, vol- 
 canoes, southeasters, and surf of the sea.
 

 
 MATKA AND KOTIK. 
 
 Unsubstantial as a dream 
 Does my lone Mist-Island seem, 
 With its fiower-bespangled moss. 
 Wet by wayward waves that toss 
 Flotsam from the farthest lands 
 Over Zoltoi's shining sands, 
 While the mist still broods above: 
 Sleep-cap of the Pribilof ! 
 
 This is a true story, for I knew Matka before 
 Kotik was born, when she was very beautiful. 
 From the little window of the cabin in which I 
 write these words I can look across the salt 
 lagoon and the mossy hills of the Mist-Island, 
 blue with harebells and spring violets, to the 
 black Tolstoi Head where the great surf is break- 
 ing. Men call these cliffs Tolstoi the strong one 
 because they are so dark and heavy. Here, 
 among the broken columns of black basalt, was 
 Matka's home, and here Kotik was born. 
 
 Then, too, was I not with Apollon, the chief 
 of the Mist-Islands, when we found Matka dead
 
 i6 
 
 Matka 
 
 Kotik. 
 
 on Zoltoi sands, with the cruel spearhead fast 
 in her velvet neck ? She had tried to come 
 ashore at Tolstoi, where Kotik watched her from 
 the rocks above, and little Lakutha waited on 
 the beach for her to come. But Matka was not 
 strong enough. The rocks were steep, the surf 
 ran high, and she had lost much blood. When 
 she tried to call back to Lakutha, the salt water 
 came into her wounded throat, and the tide rips 
 swept her away, over to Zoltoi, where the great 
 waves threw her body on the shining sands. 
 And little Lakutha waited for her on the flat 
 top of a broken column, close to the water's edge, 
 calling across the surf day after day. She is 
 waiting there yet, but she calls no longer, for she 
 fell asleep at last, and her little pinched body still 
 rests in the crevice between the columns of basalt. 
 But when Kotik was born, all this 
 had not happened. There was bustling 
 life on Tolstoi in those 
 days, when the ice 
 floes all 
 melted in 
 the spring, and 
 the mist-lands above 
 
 "Calling across the surf day after day."
 
 The Great Mart- Seal" 
 
 the rocks changed from white to green. The 
 little chutchki birds sang loudly as they built 
 their nests, and the whole shore was alive with 
 the beach-masters and their families, 
 returning to their homes from which the 
 Storm King, who rules the twin Mist- 
 Islands in the winter time, ^ 
 had driven them in the 
 fa.l. '- 
 
 And in the 
 spring, as it 
 chanced, Old Atagh 
 had come back with the 
 rest. He had been far to 
 the south, to the Fakweather 
 grounds, where the black- 
 zoned rock-fish lives, and ^ 
 he had chased it to its 
 haunts among the granite boulders. 
 He had come back strong and lusty, 
 the mightiest of all those they called 
 the beach-masters. When he blew 
 his breath in a great, musk-scented cloud before 
 his face, there were none who dared oppose 
 him. When he had climbed over the ice floes 
 
 The litlle chutchki 
 birds sang loudly.**
 
 iS 
 
 Matka ami Kotik. 
 
 to Tolstoi, he roared, because the Storm King 
 had left one of his snow banks there. And 
 when he had roared, he sat clown on the snow 
 and groaned, because he felt that great responsi- 
 bilities were falling upon him. Then he roared 
 again, for by the rock at the end of the snow 
 bank, the same flat column ^^^^ on which he 
 had stood all last sum- ^^?$j$ljN^ mer, was his 
 own brother, Unga. ^pfi|M He knew 
 him by his thick, j^'m'^'^^^k brown hair, 
 his long mustaches, j8ffi3&i!&HH and the scar 
 
 The mightiest of all the beach-masters.' 
 
 on his shoulder, which Atagh himself had cut 
 when Unga was paying court to Matka. 
 
 "Go away, Unga, I want that place," said 
 Atagh; and he groaned, and shook his head, 
 and sent his breath in a great, white cloud across 
 the snow. But Unga roared, too, and blew his 
 breath as far as Atagh could. Then Atagh knew
 
 "Haiti Out of the Sear 19 
 
 that they must fight; so he held himself very 
 low in the snow and struck out with all his 
 might, making a great cut on 
 
 hat they mast fighl 
 
 Unga's arm just below the old scar, and the red 
 flesh showed again. And Unga stood up as high 
 as he could and cut the top of Atagh's head, so 
 that the scalp with its long, blonde hairs seemed 
 like a loose wig. Then Atagh rose as high as 
 Unga could, and seized him by the waist, and 
 with a mighty effort threw him from the snow. 
 Then they both groaned very loud, and the 
 big tears flowed from their eyes and made wet 
 strips across their cheeks, for they were sorry 
 that they must fight each other. For they were 
 brothers, and for many a day they had been great 
 friends. Long days and nights had they slept 
 side by side on Zoltoi sands. But this was when 
 they were bachelors, before the great duties of 
 life had come to them.
 
 20 
 
 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 But the battle did not last long. When 
 Atagh shook his blood-stained head, and roared 
 again, and blew out his breath in a white cloud, 
 Unga only opened his mouth very wide and 
 looked toward the ocean, pretending not to see 
 Atagh any more. 
 
 So they became good friends again, and Unga 
 shuffled back to the other side of the snow and 
 left Atagh by the rock he claimed as his own. 
 
 Then others carne up and would have taken 
 their places with them on the snow, but they 
 could not. For Atagh would hold himself very 
 low as he sprang at them, and Unga would stand 
 very high, and before the intruders knew what 
 
 The black-zoned rock-fish
 
 ~" Tp
 
 77/6' Silken- Haired Ones Come. 21 
 
 had happened, they would be tumbled heels over 
 head, down on the rocks of the beach. \Yhen 
 they were all driven away, Atagh sat on the 
 snow and roared again till the tears rolled down 
 his cheeks, as he wondered whether Matka would 
 never come. 
 
 One morning a long wave swept in from the 
 sea, and there was a great bustle on the beach, 
 a washing of faces and a shaking of rich furs, 
 
 and Atagh saw a dozen of the silken-haired ones 
 climbing up the hill from the beach toward the 
 snow where he and Unga were sitting. 
 
 But Atagh only groaned, and shook his head, 
 and looked out toward the ocean, as if he did 
 not see them. And the silken-haired ones saw 
 his bleeding neck, and they said, "What a brave
 
 22 
 
 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 fellow he is; let us stay with him and give him 
 consolation." And they lounged on the snow all 
 about him in pretty attitudes, swaying back and 
 forth their long, soft necks. Then they pulled 
 his white mustaches and bit him in 
 
 the throat, till Atagh jutijL groaned again and 
 shook his head, and /*^|Hr\ the tears flowed 
 
 " Bit him in the throat till Atagh roared again " 
 
 down his cheek, which meant that they were 
 welcome. But none of them looked at Unga. 
 The next day there was another great rustic 
 on the beach, for more of the silken-haired ones 
 had come. And one of these was Matka, and 
 Polsi, her brother, was with her. Polsi was talk- 
 ing to Matka very briskly. He told her about 
 the Mist-Islands, and Ungeskelligh, and his little
 
 \

 
 TJie Dream of the Bachelor. 23 
 
 brown mustaches, and how he could almost blow 
 a cloud, and how he would like to get married. 
 And all the while the tears rolled down his 
 cheeks. But Matka laughed. " O you boy," 
 she said; " boys are 
 they don't go into 
 
 can't know boys, and 
 never speak to me 
 Atagh will blow a 
 and you will feel 
 
 always so silly; 
 society. One 
 you must never, 
 for if you do, 
 cloud at you, 
 no bigger than 
 
 Bovs are so silly; they don't go intc 
 
 Eichkao, the little blue fox, for all your mus- 
 taches. Now, climb up on the parade ground, 
 like a good little bachelor, and I will let you 
 look down sometimes to see Atagh, that you 
 may grow to be like him. Now, don't stand 
 in my way, for there is Atagh waiting." Then 
 Unga, who was all alone, groaned aloud, and
 
 24 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 Polsi shuffled up the bank as fast as his legs 
 could carry him. 
 
 So Matka shook out her silken-brown hair, and 
 brushed her white throat, and climbed up the 
 rocks to the great columns of lava. And Unga 
 saw her as she came up, and stood in her way, 
 and would not let her pass, for he was great and 
 strong, and Matka was- small and lissome. "Stay 
 with me," said Unga; " I am all alone." Then 
 he groaned very loud, and raised his neck, and 
 shook his head three times, while the tears ran 
 from his eyes. " See Atagh," he said; "he has 
 enough already, and does not care for you at all." 
 " That is right," said Matka. " He is such 
 a dear, good, masterful fellow; no wonder every- 
 body likes him. We shall all have -such good 
 times together. Don't you remember how he 
 
 threw you and old 
 Imnak off the rocks 
 last year, and car- 
 "\v ried Ennatha and 
 all the rest of 
 them to his 
 own place, 
 
 " I knew Matka before Kotlic was born." andvOU COllld
 
 " What a Beach- Master He /s/" 25 
 
 not help yourselves? How mad you were; but 
 you could only groan, and could never blow a 
 white cloud like Atagh. By the side of Atagh 
 the rest of you beach-masters are no better than 
 old white Isogh, who can't raise his head, and 
 can only wriggle off into the water when a beach- 
 
 Isogh, the hair seal. _ . ' .' 
 
 master looks at him. There were forty of us that 
 year, and we all belonged to Atagh. Oh, what 
 a beach-master he is!" 
 
 But Unga seized her by the throat and would 
 not let her go. Then Atagh heard Matka calling, 
 and he groaned and shook his head. Then, after 
 he had groaned again, he rushed across the snow, 
 and before Unga knew what had happened, there 
 was another cut across his breast, through which 
 the red blood showed again. And Atagh seized
 
 26 
 
 Matka and AW// 1 . 
 
 Matka by the shoulders, and, feet in the air, he 
 tossed her over his head so that she fell among 
 the others. But he never looked back to see how 
 she fell, and all the time he stood face to face with 
 Unga, shaking his head and blowing out his 
 breath in a great cloud. But Unga only looked 
 
 out over the sea as if nothing 
 
 ' ' \ 
 
 had happened. So the two were 
 
 But he never looked back t 
 
 good friends again. There were now many more 
 of the silken-haired ones on the shore, and some 
 of them came to Atagh, and some of them to 
 Unga; but I need not tell their stories, for it is 
 always thus on the Mist-Islands. 
 
 So Atagh shuffled back to his place, and 
 groaned as he thought of the responsibilities
 
 if*
 
 IV here Kotik was Born. 27 
 
 of life. But Matka said briskly: "What a nice 
 rock you have chosen, dear; and so many of 
 them with you! How strong you are; how they 
 all must admire you! There were forty last year; 
 let us have fifty this year. But little brown Matka 
 is the best of all; is n't she, dear?" And she 
 snuggled up close to Atagh, and bit him a little 
 in the sides of his neck, and pulled his long mus- 
 taches. And Atagh shook his head and pretended 
 to groan, and the tears ran frqm his eyes, but he 
 was pleased for all that, though he would never 
 let Matka know it. 
 
 And Polsi, Matka's brother, watched them 
 from the rock above the snow, and he shook his 
 head and blew his breath out a little, just as he 
 had seen Atagh do. But when Atagh saw him 
 and groaned once, Polsi fell off from the rock 
 and tumbled heels over head into the sea. 
 
 And right here, close to the sea, among the big 
 rocks under Tolstoi Head, where you look down 
 from the old fox- walk, Kotik was born. When 
 I first saw Kotik the snow bank had melted 
 away. The silken-haired ones were all come, and 
 the Storm King had fled to his fastness in the 
 north. Matka slept on the flat blocks of lava,
 
 28 
 
 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 and Kotik was already a sturdy fellow, for Matka 
 had watched him closely all these first days. 
 None of the other silken-haired ones dared snap 
 at him when Matka was looking; and when 
 Atagh was fighting, Matka would lift Kotik gently 
 by the neck and place -him in a safe place behind 
 some rock. Kotik soon learned to toddle away 
 and hide under the rocks when Atagh was rushing 
 
 'When Atagh was fighting. Matka would lift Kotik gently." 
 
 about, for to learn to creep under a rock so as not 
 to be trodden under foot is the first rule of the 
 Mist-Islands; and the second rule is, to go away 
 and play with one's fellows when one is not 
 wanted at home. Kotik had learned to know 
 Matka's voice, and to come when she wanted 
 him. He could climb the sides of the slanting 
 rocks all by himself when there was not anything 
 for him to eat. Atagh never looked at him, for
 
 
 I ~ 
 
 1 2 
 
 Pi ^ 
 
 I ^ 
 
 5
 
 One Sleeps Much at Tolstoi. 29 
 
 he would not have Matka think that he cared for 
 children. 
 
 Besides, as the summer went on, the responsi- 
 bilities of life grew heavier on Atagh. He 
 slept a good deal, and when he was awake he 
 would shake his head and groan. And after 
 a while, Matka never seemed to look at Kotik, 
 either. But when he was. out of sight, he was 
 always in her thoughts; she would open her sleepy 
 eyes, and without rising from her resting-place, 
 she would call, and call, until Kotik should answer. 
 Then she would go back to sleep again, and Kotik 
 slept by her side. For one sleeps much on the 
 Mist-Islands. The time moves slowly there, for 
 it is always afternoon, and those who stay there 
 sleep, and sleep, and wait. 
 
 Matka never seemed to look at Kotik, eith'r.
 
 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 One day I came to Tolstoi Head, and looking 
 down over the ledge, I saw them all fast asleep 
 Atagh beside his rock with his nose in the air, 
 while Matka was lazily comfortable on her back 
 among the stones, her arms spread wide apart and 
 her white throat showing soft like velvet. Kotik 
 lay close by her with outstretched limbs, trying 
 to look as much like Matka as he could. 
 
 " O Matka," said I, " let me look at your 
 little boy!" Matka woke with a start, and 
 brushed her throat nervously 
 with her hands. "Yes, 
 you may," said 
 she; "but I must 
 ^- go and wash 
 my face." But 
 Kotik said: " No, 
 you cannot look at me. I 
 do not like you; go away and let me alone. 
 If you don't go, I will bite you, and I will tell 
 Atagh, my father, and he will groan at you 
 and bite you, too. Let me alone," said Kotik. 
 So Matka went off to wash her face in the sea. 
 But Atagh saw her going, and would not have it. 
 He groaned again over the troubles of life, and 
 
 " 1 do not like you,' said Kotik."
 
 The Troubles of Life. 3 1 
 
 one could hear him a mile away. He leaned back 
 on the rock when he roared, and opened his 
 mouth wide, and the tears ran from his eyes. 
 Then he groaned again and shook his head four 
 times. But Matka would not have me see her 
 till she had washed her face, and she tried again 
 to run away. But Atagh said, " Matka, you shall 
 not go; I have said so, and I must have my way." 
 So he seized her by the neck and flung her over 
 his shoulder back into her place. " Look at me," 
 he said; "I never wash my face; I never eat; I 
 never drink; I never waste my time in frivolity. 
 I have stayed right here at home all these two 
 months. I have worked hard, and you shall stay 
 with me." And Matka sat very still behind the 
 rock and looked at Atagh admiringly. 
 
 Then Atagh saw me, and he groaned and 
 shook his head again. "Go away," he said; 
 " don't you see how hard it is to manage a house- 
 hold? When visitors come, they break up family 
 discipline." And Kotik sat on the rock and 
 roared, too, in his little, high-pitched voice, shak- 
 ing his black head till I could see his white teeth. 
 " Don't you see how you trouble us," said he; 
 " it is all that we can do to manage Matka,
 
 32 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 anyhow, even if you don't come meddling with 
 our affairs." 
 
 Then Polsi, Matka's brother, who was sitting 
 alone, watching from the rock above like a sen- 
 tinel, began to laugh. But Atagh snorted at him, 
 and he ran away as fast as his long, flat feet 
 could carry him, and while he ran he tumbled 
 over little Holostiak, and they both went flip-flap, 
 bumping their noses against the rocks till they 
 splashed into the sea. 
 
 But Matka meant to wash her face all the time, 
 though she pretended not to care any more, and 
 she sat quite still and craned her neck, looking at 
 me all the while with sleepy, curious eyes. " Do 
 go away," said Atagh; "don't you see what heavy 
 responsibilities I have?" Then he began to pant, 
 for he was stout and growing scant of breath, and 
 he groaned again when he thought of all the cares 
 life had brought him. 
 
 Then Kotik began to cry as loud as he could. 
 But no one took any notice of him. So he wiped 
 his eyes with his flat, brown hands and ran off to 
 play with the other black-haired little fellows, 
 each with a white spot under his ribs. They were 
 crawling up a flat rock and sliding back every
 
 BBBMI
 
 34 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 time they got half way up. And when one of 
 them would fall off from a rock and bump his 
 nose, then all the others would climb to the same 
 place and do the same thing. And Kotik saw 
 them; so he went up to climb, and slide, and 
 bump his nose with them. And he was climbing 
 and sliding still when I went away. 
 
 And Matka washed her face after all, for Atagh 
 went to sleep after he had groaned some more; 
 and Matka slipped softly by him and went down 
 to the sea. For she always had her own way at 
 the end. This is why Atagh groaned so much 
 and shook his head. 
 
 When I next came to Tolstoi, Atagh was lying 
 on the rock fast asleep, sprawled out at full length, 
 his head hanging off from one side of the rock, his 
 long feet dropping down from the other. Matka 
 had been away for a week, but she had already 
 taught Atagh that she should always do as she 
 pleased. She had run down one day to wash her 
 face in the sea, and Atagh was so sleepy that he 
 could not hold her back. When TJnga tried to 
 stop her, she struck him sharply on the chin, so 
 that he was willing to let her go. For he, too, 
 was very sleepy, and groaned to himself because
 
 :A
 
 Pretending Not to Notice. 35 
 
 life on the Mist-Islands was so full of responsibili- 
 ties. Then old Imnak saw Matka coming, and 
 he tried to seize her and hold her back. But 
 Matka was as deft as a cat, and slid behind him, 
 and plumped herself into the water just beside 
 her brother Polsi, and they both went off making 
 long, dolphin leaps. But Matka looked back once 
 to blow a kiss to old Atagh, who had just waked 
 up and who pretended not to notice it, while he 
 groaned and shook his head. And she called 
 to Kotik, who was climbing a great, slippery 
 rock, from which he could slide down plump 
 into a little pool of water. For it was time now 
 for Kotik to learn to swim. 
 
 Where Matka went, no one can tell, for it is 
 only the silken-haired ones that know the way to 
 the bank of sunken 
 mountains which is the 
 home of the yellow 
 Atka-fish with the 
 black zones, and of 
 
 " The yellov 
 
 the purple squid which 
 
 tastes like peaches and cream, and the sleek- 
 skinned dream-fish, which is the nicest of all. 
 There are many who have sought for this bank,
 
 J/c/X/v/ 
 
 as there are many who have tried to find the 
 foot of the rainbow; but only the silken-haired 
 ones know the way, and those who have thought 
 that they found it have never been able to go 
 back to the place again. For it lies far away, 
 toward the Islands of the Four Moun- 
 
 The purple squid, which tastes like peaches and cream." 
 
 tains,- in the edge of the Icy Sea; and the giant 
 kelp spreads over it like a curtain, and rises 
 and falls with the rolling surge. To go there, 
 you must first find the twin Smoke-Islands, 
 which steam and sputter day and night, because 
 they are hot and the water they are in is 
 cold. Then you leave them well to the wind- 
 ward, and go on, and on, till you see Chignotto, 
 with the thick, gray fur, swimming on her back 
 in the kelp. Her little Bobrik she holds in her 
 arms, clasping him close to her breast when the 
 surf is high. And here the silken-haired ones
 
 H
 
 She Does What She Pleases. 37 
 
 go when they are hungry, and they have no 
 fear of Chignotto, for little Bobrik claims her 
 whole attention, and all are friends who live in 
 the Icy Sea. 
 
 And there, too, is the home of old Amogada, 
 with the long teeth, who shakes his great head, 
 and roars, and looks very terrible. But Matka 
 had no fear of him, for she knew that he was 
 only scolding his wife, and whatever Amogada 
 says, she will do exactly as she pleases, for that 
 is the law of the Icy Sea. 
 
 When Matka had eaten her fill of Atka-fish, 
 dream-fish, and squid, she thought of hungry 
 Kotik, and of Atagh standing lonesome beside 
 his rock, with his nose in the air all these days. 
 But first, she must sleep a little, for a nap after 
 eating is always good for digestion, and she is 
 always well fed who dines at the Sign
 
 38 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 of the Four Mountains. Besides, it is a rule of 
 the Mist-Islands that one should never go on 
 shore with fish in one's stomach. So Matka 
 lay quietly on the water for a day, rising and 
 falling with the waves, and when she awoke she 
 fanned herself softly in her own dainty fashion. 
 Atagh waited and slept, and when he was 
 awake he groaned and roared patiently. But 
 Kotik grew uneasy. He would slide on 
 the rocks, and paddle on 
 the water, 
 and sometimes 
 he and 
 his little 
 
 friends would - 
 play beach- 
 
 O- - 
 
 master. 
 
 He would seize a long ribbon of 
 kelp in his teeth and would shake 
 his head very quickly, tearing it 
 to pieces, just as Atagh would tear the skin of 
 the young beach-masters when they came too 
 near Matka. And then he would pretend to 
 dive for fish, but he could only bring up a cast- 
 off shell or a piece of kelp. But whatever he
 
 Matka Calls for Kotik. 
 
 39 
 
 got he would shake with all his might so that 
 it could not get away. And he learned to 
 swallow the pebbles and shells, for one should 
 always have a little of something solid in his 
 stomach when he goes about on the land. Then 
 he would try to talk to Atagh, but his father 
 would only groan and act as if he did not see 
 Kotik. 
 
 One day Matka came ashore. She shook 
 out her hair, rubbed her eyes, and crept up 
 the bank to her Tolstoi home. She looked 
 neither to the left, nor to the right, pretended 
 not to notice Atagh, who was sleepier than ever, 
 and she called aloud, " Kotik, Kotik!" A dozen 
 little black -haired fellows crept up the rocks 
 when they heard her calling, but she thrust 
 them carelessly aside, tumbling 
 them over the cliff till the 
 right one reached her at last. 
 She gave him one kiss 
 of recognition; but 
 she would not even 
 look at him 
 a after that, 
 for she 
 
 1 Tumbling them over the cliff till the right one reached her."
 
 40 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 did not want Kotik to know that she cared 
 for him. So she made him wait until she 
 had dressed herself, and was ready to give 
 him his dinner, before she would turn her eyes 
 toward him again. For it is not good form 
 to show either love or anger on the Mi>t- 
 Islands. 
 
 When Matka was ready, she crowded Atagh 
 out of the way, and lay down on the smoothest 
 rock on Tolstoi, first pushing off all the little 
 ones who had gathered there to play, and had 
 gone to sleep before the game was finished. She 
 thrust them rudely down the bank, while their 
 mothers sleepily complained to Atagh. But 
 Atagh knew that Matka was always right. So 
 he groaned and shook his head, while she went 
 to sleep on the rocks, with Kotik by her side. 
 And when Kotik had taken all that she had 
 brought for him from the Sign of the Four 
 
 Kotik went over with a splash."
 
 The Voice of the Beach- Master. 4' 
 
 Mountains, he lay down on his back under a 
 rock, where no beach-master could step on him, 
 and slept for a whole day, his flat, brown hands 
 crossed on his breast, and his flappy little feet 
 moving like a fan. And Atagh thought how 
 pretty Matka was, and what a noble little fellow 
 Kotik was coming to be. Then he 
 leaned back, and shook his head 
 three times, and groaned very 
 
 Eichkao, the blue fox. 
 
 loud. But that did not wake up Matka nor 
 Kotik, for their sleep was all the sounder the 
 more loudly he roared. " His voice is like the 
 surf of the sea," Matka said, " and it does one 
 good to hear it." Then Atagh laid his bushy 
 head on the rock and stretched out his limbs 
 just as far as they would reach. Soon he, too, 
 was fast asleep.
 
 42 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 One day little Holostiak was playing with 
 Kotik by the water's edge, and for mischief he 
 pushed the little fellow down the bank into the 
 sea. Kotik went over with a splash. He was 
 very niuch scared. He held up his head as high 
 as he could, and then, before he knew it, his 
 nose went under. Then he came up snorting 
 and gasping, and if he had not paddled for dear 
 life with both his flappy, brown hands, he would 
 have gone to the bottom. Then he would have 
 drowned, and the waves would have washed him 
 up on the beach for Eichkao, the blue fox, to 
 carry home to his children, as he had carried 
 off little Annak the day before. 
 
 Then Holostiak showed him how to swim. 
 He showed him that the way to keep his 
 head up was to hold it low, so that only his 
 nose was in the air, and to throw the water 
 back with his hands. And then he learned the 
 dolphin leap, when one swims partly under 
 
 \ ' 
 ""^5^@?^^fe^^^fe- ' 1* 
 
 58* ^ 
 
 'And then he learned the dolphin leap."
 
 Learning the Dolphin Leap. 43 
 
 water and partly in the air, and breathes only 
 when he is jumping. When Kotik could do this, 
 he was very happy. And as he splashed about, 
 the water washed away all his black hairs, leav- 
 ing him all over a soft, silvery gray "just like 
 Atagh," he said in his little boyish pride. But 
 Matka laughed, for she knew better. She knew 
 that Kotik must shed his hair many times be- 
 fore it would be a full velvet brown, whitened 
 by silvery bristles. Besides, Atagh had mus- 
 taches a foot long, and great teeth to bite with, 
 instead of the little pin points around Kotik's 
 mouth. 
 
 And when Kotik could swim very well, and 
 could go all alone from Tolstoi to Zoltoi, Matka 
 was very proud of him. 
 
 One day he swam around to the island where 
 Sivutch, the gray sea-lion, lives, and he found the 
 brown sea-lion babies asleep on the rocks off the 
 shore. So he climbed up there with them, and 
 began to play with them, just as he played with 
 his fellows at Tolstoi. But the others said: "Go 
 away, little boy. We can't play. We are big 
 and all that, but we don't know anything. Let 
 us alone." And they opened their mouths as wide
 
 44 
 
 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 as they could, and cried, and cried, whenever 
 Kotik looked at them. And Kagua, the great, 
 foolish, white-skinned mother, plunged into the 
 water, and put out her head, and called piti- 
 fully in a deep, anxious voice, so that huge old 
 Sivutch himself was disturbed, and raised the 
 great mountain of flesh he called his 
 head, and roared sleepily. And 
 his voice was like the deep, full 
 
 "Old Sivutch himself was disturbed, and roared sleepily." 
 
 bass note of a mighty organ. You might go 
 around the world before you would hear the 
 like again. But Sivutch meant nothing when 
 he roared, for he was not even awake. 
 
 Then Kotik saw that he was not wanted by 
 the Sivutch family, so he swam away home and 
 found old Atagh groaning and shaking his head. 
 He said: "I have stood here on this rock all
 
 Atagh Goes off to Dine. 45 
 
 summer and have not eaten once, nor washed 
 my face. You and Matka do not need me any 
 more. I am going away. Good-by. Take care 
 of yourselves. I will come back after dinner." 
 So, without any more ceremony, Atagh shuffled 
 down to the beach, not once looking back at 
 Matka. Unga followed him, and old Imnak 
 came, too, and they went off together in high 
 spirits, rollicking away like the jolly old boys 
 they were. For they were all great friends 
 always when they were off duty. And they 
 swam away together with great, dolphin leaps to 
 the Storm King's gate, where the pollock-fish 
 could always be found in plenty. For Atagh 
 was easily suited when he had enough to eat, 
 and he had no taste for the creamy squid and 
 the clear-skinned dream-fishes which the silken- 
 haired ones delight in. 
 
 The pollock-fish. 

 
 46 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 Then Polsi, who had sat alone on the rock- 
 above for a whole month, waiting for Atagh to 
 leave, shuffled down to his place, and pulled his 
 mustaches, and fanned himself unconcernedly, 
 as he tried to look very strong and braye. He 
 shook his head, and groaned, and blew out his 
 breath in a little cloud. But whenever he heard 
 any one coming, he trembled all over, and more 
 than once he was scared out of his wits. Then 
 he left the silken-haired ones and threw himself 
 into the sea because he thought he heard Atagh 
 growl. 
 
 But Polsi had good reason to be afraid, for 
 one day Atagh came back all unexpectedly. He 
 gave one great growl as he landed on the beach, 
 and Unga, who was with him, roared and blew 
 out his breath just as he had done .when they 
 came for the first time. And when Polsi and 
 the rest of them heard it, they put their heads 
 low and shuffled off just as fast as they cor.Kl. 
 Then Atagh and Unga, who were very fat, and 
 strong, and wide-awake, came back to their 
 places rollicking and roaring, and they called 
 the silken-haired ones around them, and every- 
 thing went on just as before. When Matka saw
 
 When Bachelors are Happy. 47 
 
 Atagh, she was very glad, but she pretended 
 not to notice him. She was busy looking for 
 Kotik, and did not stay very long in one place, 
 and went from Atagh to Unga, and anywhere 
 she pleased, just as Kotik did, And everybody 
 began to do that, so that Atagh could not keep 
 trace of his family. But he was rather glad to 
 be free, and he went off one day to sleep on 
 Tolstoi sands and get well ready for the Long 
 Swim. Then Polsi, who had been watching all 
 the time, came down and took his place. When 
 the beach-masters are away comes the hap- 
 piest time of* all the year for those who are 
 bachelors. 
 
 When Matka saw Polsi, she laughed. " So 
 here the boys are coming to Tolstoi again. It 
 is time for us to take the Long Swim, Kotik. 
 See, the Mist-Islands are white and not green; 
 the sun does not look at us any more, and 
 soon the spray will all grow hard and slippery, 
 and we canno.t climb upon the rocks." 
 
 So Matka and Kotik swam off with dolphin 
 leaps, and when they were well out at sea, 
 they looked back and saw Polsi all alone on 
 Atagh's rock. All of the silken-haired ones
 
 48 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 had left him, and all their silvery-gray children 
 with them. There was no more life and bustle 
 on the cold, bleak Tolstoi cliffs. For Atagh 
 and Unga had already gone again. This time 
 they went to the Fairweather grounds, where 
 they would stay all winter, to come back early 
 in the spring. For they dared not go too far, 
 because they knew, that if they were not back 
 early, someone else would take their places, and 
 they might never .get back into society again. 
 
 But Polsi ' stayed on Tolstoi till everyone 
 else was gone, and was very happy, because 
 he was now as good as Atagh. And little 
 Holostiak, who was Kotik's older brother, crept 
 down to Unga's place, and the Storm King 
 brought the snow back again, and the two 
 stood alone upon it, and felt very proud and 
 manly. 
 
 All at once Polsi said: " I feel very hungry. 
 Why, I have n't eaten a thing for a month. 
 Let us go and get some pollock-fish." "Just 
 what I was thinking of," says Holostiak; " they 
 can all see now that we are real beach-masters; 
 now the thing for us to do is to have a good 
 dinner." So they went down to the sea, and
 
 .
 
 I
 
 Taking the Long Swim. 49 
 
 washed their faces, and then swam right away 
 to the Storm King's gate, where the pollock 
 lives, and is soft and tender. When they had 
 eaten all they could, and had a long sleep on 
 the waves, they swam across to the Fairweather 
 grounds, where they found Atagh and Unga. 
 But they were afraid of them no more, and 
 they went on farther, and farther, a thousand 
 miles to the south. They dodged the Great 
 Killer, Orca, who would have stained the sea 
 with their blood. For he hates the sons of the 
 beach-masters, and destroys them whenever he 
 can; and often he lies in wait for them as they 
 pass through the Storm King's gate. 
 
 They passed Kotik and Matka, and all the 
 rest of the silken-haired ones, till they came to 
 the Gray-Islands in the Blue Seas. At the 
 
 "Orca, the Great Killer."
 
 50 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 Gray-Islands the mist was all gone, the sun- 
 shine was hot, and they could see the moon 
 overhead at night. Then they knew that it was 
 time to go back. So they swam around all 
 the islands, not forgetting the last one with 
 the tall, ragged, brown cliffs, and the caves 
 where the brown sea-wolves yelp day and night, 
 in their silly, puppy fashion. Then they went 
 straight back to the north, taking always the 
 coldest current, going through the gates of the 
 Storm King, and past the black cape, called 
 Cheerful, and by the line of the great floes 
 they found their way to the Icy Seas, to the 
 Mist-Islands. And on the flat columns of Tol- 
 stoi Head, Polsi and Holostiak climbed first 
 of all, and they found the snow bank there 
 just, as it was the year before. 
 
 When Unga and Atagh came back again and 
 saw them, they blew out their breath in great 
 white clouds. Holostiak ran away with all his 
 might, but Polsi was not frightened at all. For 
 he could roar and blow a cloud, and his teeth 
 were long and sharp. So Atagh had the hardest 
 fight of his., life before he could drive away 
 Matka's brother. When the struggle was over,
 
 o If ViW 
 
 ^ wi 

 
 Good Friends after Battle. 5 1 
 
 and each one had a bloody, shoulder, they were 
 all good friends again, and pretended not to see 
 each other. But there were three of them on 
 the snow bank instead of two, and Polsi was 
 in the middle, and could groan and shake his 
 head just as well as Atagh could. When the 
 silken-haired ones came back, it was very hard 
 for them to choose, for, though Polsi's mustaches 
 were not quite so long, his hair was very black, 
 and he shook his head proudly, and could -blow 
 out his musky breath in great white clouds across 
 the snow. And on Tolstoi again it was as though 
 a great city had risen from the sea. 
 
 Matka and Kotik, too, had gone far out into 
 the broad, blue sea, careless of storm or sunshine, 
 so long as they moved on, day by day, in their 
 southward course. . They found many fishes on 
 their way white-fish and rose-fish, but the 
 yellow Atka-fish of the Icy Sea tasted better 
 than any. "Now," says Matka at last, "let 
 us go back home." And they swam back 
 strongly and swiftly, for Kotik was almost as 
 large as his mother now, and his feet and 
 hands were bigger. Every day, as they came 
 nearer and nearer to the Mist-Islands, they grew
 
 52 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 more and more merry. One morning, they saw 
 a great cone-shaped mountain with smoke coming 
 out of the top; " That is Shishaldin," said Matka; 
 "there the Storm King has his kitchen; from 
 that you will know your way home. Now you 
 see the thick mists rushing through the snow 
 mountains. That is Akutan and the gate of the 
 Storm King, through which you go to the Icy 
 Sea. Then you come to the great Moss-Island, 
 where the white volcano steams and puffs. 
 There the mountain is cleft in twain, and a white 
 cascade leaps from the midst of it straight out 
 into the sea. Now the gray mists draw their 
 curtain before the scorching sun. Where you 
 see the water falling, it is the Cape called 
 Cheerful, and you know you are almost home. 
 Two days more, and we will see the Mist- 
 Islands, and old Atagh waiting for me at 
 Tolstoi." 
 
 " Waiting for you, Matka," said Kotik; "can- 
 not I go to Tolstoi, too? " " No, you foolish 
 boy," says Matka, "you must not come to 
 Tolstoi. Atagh would be very angry, and all 
 the silken-haired ones would bite you. You 
 must go off with Holostiak, and Kamnin, and
 
 The Duties of Bachelors. 53 
 
 all the rest of them, to the sands of Ungeskelligh. 
 There you may swim in the water every day, 
 and you may sleep on the sands when it is 
 warm, and on the grass when it is wet. And 
 you may swim to Lukanin when the surf is high, 
 and to Zoltoi when the wind is in the east; 
 and you may swim and eat, and play and sleep, 
 as you will. But you must never come to me. 
 And when you swim past Tolstoi, you may call 
 to me, but I shall never answer; and Atagh will 
 groan and shake his head because you are such 
 a foolish boy. And when the chief, Apollon, 
 comes to drive you up, you must go right along 
 and make no fuss, for it is the way on the 
 Mist-Islands." 
 
 And Kotik was sad, for he wanted to stay 
 with Matka. He loved the black rocks of Tol- 
 stoi, and he didn't want to be driven up. But 
 then a great wave swept over the reef, and the 
 silken-haired ones came up rustling and bustling 
 to Tolstoi, and climbed over the rocks to where 
 Atagh, and Polsi, and Unga were waiting, each 
 with his nose in the air, and pretending not 
 to see them. "Good-by," said Matka, and 
 Atagh roared so loudly that Kotik was terribly
 
 54 
 
 J/<7//'<7 ami Kotik. 
 
 frightened, and swam away so hastily that ho did 
 not stop till he reached the long, curving stretch 
 of sands beyond Tolstoi they called Ungeskelligh, 
 which means the place for bachelors. 
 
 Here he found Holostiak, and his mustaches 
 were growing, arid he could already blow a 
 little cloud. And there were many more of 
 
 the bachelors, little and big, and they had a 
 joyous time together. Sometimes they would 
 pretend to fight, to groan, and to blow out 
 their breath. But this was only play, for they 
 never hurt each other. Then they would bound 
 down the sands into the sea, and swim around 
 to Zoltoi and back again with long, dolphin 
 leaps. And they liked above all to creep 
 under the crest of a breaking wave, so that they
 
 The Drive from Tolstoi. 55 
 
 could look out on either side as it fell over 
 them. And when he went around Tolstoi Head, 
 Kotik would call out to Matka, and Atagh 
 would shake his head at him and groan. But 
 Matka was busy with little Minda, and she 
 never answered back. 
 
 One night they were all asleep on the Unge- 
 skelligh sands when they heard some one moving 
 about in the mist. Holostiak awoke, sniffed, 
 and raised his head. " That is Apollon," he 
 said. " There is going to be a drive." Then 
 he ran down to the sea and plunged in, and 
 never stopped till he came to Tolstoi, so fright- 
 ened was he. Here he climbed up the rocks 
 and rushed right in among the silken-haired 
 ones, scarcely knowing what he was doing. 
 " The drive, the drive," he screamed. " What 
 do you want here?" growled Polsi; and he and 
 Unga seized Holostiak by the shoulders and 
 threw him off from the rocks into the sea in half 
 the time it takes to tell it. And Matka looked up 
 sleepily and said: "Dear, dear, how foolish these 
 boys' are! I thought Holostiak had been killed in 
 a drive by this time. I hope Kotik will never 
 be so silly. I am glad that Minda is not a boy."
 
 5 6 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 So the drive went on, and the bachelors were 
 all awakened from their sleep, and men stood 
 between them and the water, so that they had to 
 climb up the sands and over the hill. It was 
 hard work to go up hill in the sands, and they 
 stepped on each other's feet, and tumbled about in 
 confusion. But it was good fun for Kotik. Every 
 minute something new would happen. Some of 
 them would stop and shake their heads, snorting 
 and groaning. Then Kotik would laugh at them 
 and pretend to bite them in the throat or ribs. 
 
 When they came up from the sand over the 
 rocks, they went along much more easily. And 
 it was pleasant on the wet grass where the yellow 
 poppies grow, and the great, blue violets. But 
 Kotik did not care for these; he liked the cool 
 dew, and it was such a joke to be driven along 
 in a crowd. But when they came to go down 
 hill, they would slip, and step on each other's 
 feet, and roll heels over head in funny con- 
 fusion. When they came to a little pond, they 
 all plunged into it and made a great splashing. 
 
 The drive came to its end at the old killing 
 ground, Asascardano, beside the salt lagoon, 
 where the purple monk's-hood waves its poisoned
 
 IV hy the Rye- Grass is Tall 57 
 
 flowers, and the rye-grass is tall, because the 
 bones lie thick about its roots. There were 
 many others there from Lukanin and Zoltoi, 
 and they all lay down in the grass, panting and 
 pretending to bite each other. 
 
 Then Kotik saw a little "pod" of thirty, 
 that the chief had driven up apart from the 
 rest, and the men closed in about them in a 
 moment, and only the biggest and smallest ones 
 were left; for all those who were three years 
 old, and whose skins had no scars, lay dead on 
 the grass. It is not pleasant to tell the story of 
 Asascardano. If killing must be done, one does 
 not like to hear about it. So, if my lady wishes 
 to know where her rich fur cloak comes from, 
 she must ask some one else. 
 
 Kotik did not mind it much till his " pod " 
 from Tolstoi was driven up. But when he saw 
 the blows falling on his companions' heads, he 
 was furious with wrath, and the big tears ran 
 all over his face. He rushed at Apollon and 
 struck at him with all his might, just as he 
 had seen Atagh strike at old Unga. But the 
 chief kept him off with his club, and Kotik 
 could not reach him anywhere.
 
 58 Matka and Koiik. 
 
 When the killing was over, and those who 
 were left were creeping disconsolately through 
 the grass on their way down to the salt 
 lagoon, Kotik would not go. He groaned, 
 and shook his head, and showed all his white 
 teeth. " He 's a fine fellow; hear him growl," 
 said the chief. " When he grows up, then look 
 out." 
 
 But the chief went away and left him. They 
 drove up another pod a little way off, and 
 Kotik was left in the grass all alone with his 
 wrath. When he found that he could not get 
 at the chief, Kotik shuffled off to the lagoon 
 and swam back as straight as he could to Un- 
 geskelligh sands. And he forgot to call to 
 Matka as he went around Tolstoi Head, for his 
 little heart was full of anger. 
 
 I should like, if I could, to tell ho\v Kotik 
 resolved that there shouid be no more drives, 
 and how he led all the silken-haired ones and 
 all the beach-masters in a great revolt, and 
 swam away to the twin Storm-Islands in the 
 thicker mist, where the green foam curls about 
 the hollowed-out cliffs of Zapalata, and the 
 black reefs close the way to all intruders. But
 
 The Twin Storm- Islands. 59 
 
 this is a true story, and I can tell only the truth. 
 He did nothing of the kind. When he came to 
 Ungeskelligh, Kotik found the strand so quiet 
 and the sand so cool, the surf-beat so soothing 
 and the mist so pleasant, that he lay down and 
 went to sleep. 
 
 For it is the way of the Mist-Islands, that 
 when one is unhappy he sleeps well, and when 
 he awakes all is forgotten. Kotik awoke, full 
 of the joy of the great sands and the sea, 
 and his anger had all faded away. Ten days 
 later, when Apollon came around again, Kotik 
 followed in the drive, doing just what was 
 expected of him from start to finish. And so 
 did Holostiak, for he had less fear of the drive 
 than of Atagh's terrible groan and Polsi's sharp 
 teeth. " For there have always been drives," 
 every one said, " and drives there will always 
 be." And it is well for them that it is so, else 
 the whole Mist-Islands would be covered with 
 struggling beach-masters, and the silken -haired 
 ones would have no peace of mind or body, and 
 their little ones would all be trampled under 
 foot. Even now, when the beach-masters fight 
 on Tolstoi Sands, many little ones are killed,
 
 6o Matka and Kotik. 
 
 because there are no rocks to hide under, and 
 they cannot get out of the way. 
 
 But Kotik did not forget Matka, and one day 
 he went over to Tolstoi Head and climbed right 
 up among the silken-haired ones, taking always 
 good care to be on the other side of the rocks 
 from Atagh. And Matka looked at him sleepily 
 and said, "You foolish boy." But she did not 
 drive him away. Atagh looked over at him 
 and growled. But he knew it was only Kotik. 
 Besides, Atagh was very sleepy. So he lay 
 down and pretended not to see him. After a 
 while, Matka said, "Now, be a good boy; go 
 away, and when the Great Ice comes down from 
 the north we will all swim off together." 
 
 So Kotik went down to the shore. Unga 
 and Polsi growled at him all the way down, 
 but no one did more than growl. On the shore 
 he found little Minda, and he spent the whole 
 afternoon teaching her to swim. Then he went 
 around to Lukanin, for he liked to lie on the 
 level rocks that face the long curve of the 
 beach. The soft sand made his short legs 
 tired, so when he wished to rest he climbed 
 upon the rocks. But to the rocks of Tolstoi he
 
 Playing Beach-Master. 61 
 
 would not go again, for he would not be likely 
 to find Atagh another time in such gentle mood. 
 
 Holostiak and Kotik were good friends, and 
 went about together a good deal, climbing the 
 rocks or swimming about the Mist-Islands in 
 dolphin leaps, looking like spectres in the great 
 rollers. 
 
 But one day Holostiak stepped on Kotik's 
 foot. He did it on purpose, just to see the 
 little fellow sprawl on the sand. Then Kotik 
 growled and blew out his breath, and Holostiak 
 groaned and held his head low, striking Kotik 
 a quick blow on the shoulder. Then Kotik 
 raised his head, looking the other way, and pre- 
 tended not to notice it. So they were good 
 friends again, and Kotik was very proud of 
 the scar, for it showed that he was big enough 
 to fight, even if Apollon had turned him off 
 four times from the drive. 
 
 When Unga and Atagh left Tolstoi again 
 and went off to sleep on the rocks, Holostiak 
 and Kotik climbed to the place where they 
 had been, and pretended to groan over the 
 responsibilities of life, to blow out their breath, 
 and to push about the silken-haired ones, just
 
 62 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 as they had seen the beach-masters do. But 
 the silken-haired ones only laughed at them, 
 and said to their children, " It is time for us to 
 be gone, for the boys are playing beach-master." 
 But Matka waited to the last for Kotik, just 
 as she had promised. 
 
 Then came another year, and Kotik had to 
 go away again to Ungeskelligh with the others. 
 But Apollon turned him back from every drive, 
 because he was still too small. Holostiak 
 would not stay on the sands any longer with 
 Kotik. He climbed up over the rocks at Tol- 
 stoi, and sat there all summer long, looking 
 down at Atagh and Polsi, just as Polsi had 
 done the years before. 
 
 The next year Kotik was a splendid fellow, 
 with skin as soft as Matka's, and his mustaches 
 were plainly to be seen. He went into the 
 drive again, and he thought himself the best 
 of them, for he was now three years old. But 
 Apollon turned him back just the same, because 
 he had a scar on his shoulder, and would only 
 make a second-grade skin at the best, for all 
 he was so brave. And Kotik felt ashamed of his 
 scar and himself. Then, whenever the time came
 
 ' 
 

 
 Watching from the Old Fox- Walk. 63 
 
 or the drive, and he heard the chief coming, 
 he plunged right into the sea. So, when the 
 others were driven, he was always out of reach, 
 on the sands, or the cliffs, or the waves, so that 
 he never went to Asascardano any more. 
 
 And the fourth year, and the fifth, he left 
 the sands and watched all 
 summer long on the rocks over- 
 looking Tolstoi. Sometimes 
 he stood on the cliffs, above 
 his mother, like a sentinel, 
 nose in the air. By his side, 
 day and night, was old 
 Epatka, the sea-parrot, who 
 sits on one egg and never 
 speaks, and who has no 
 friends among the other 
 birds. His bill is made of 
 red sealing wax, and he 
 covers his face with a white 
 
 mask, so that no one knows what he is really 
 like. He is a fantastic creature, and his tem- 
 per is as bad as his looks, and he has many 
 quarrels with the little blue fox, for the bones 
 of his fathers lie bleaching by Eichkao's den. 
 
 1 Old Epatka, the sea-parrot."
 
 64 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 But Kotik liked him, and Epatka did not tear 
 Kotik, and they spent many days together on 
 the rocks beside the old fox-walk. 
 
 Kotik's face was always turned toward Matka 
 and Atagh. Sometimes he would climb up from 
 below and stretch himself, like a great lizard, 
 along the boulders over which the surf was 
 breaking. But when Atagh would roar and blow 
 out his breath, he would run away as fast as he 
 could, plumping into the water with a great 
 splash, and looking back at Matka by the sea. 
 
 And then at last came the sad summer, when 
 the ships of the Pirate Kings found their way into 
 the Icy Sea. It was then that we picked up 
 Matka, with a spearhead in her throat, dead on 
 the shining sands they call Zoltoi, the golden. 
 And Lakutha, her little one, who had been so
 
 . 
 
 o 8 
 
 S 
 
 c 
 8 3 
 
 . O
 
 Dead on the Shining Sands. 65 
 
 plump and joyous, grew faint and thin, until she 
 died at last. Atagh was sore at heart, though 
 he pretended not to notice it. But he groaned 
 and shook his head with all his might when 
 the blue thief, Eichkao, tried to steal away her 
 little body, and great white Gavarushka tried 
 to take away her eyes as playthings 
 for his children. * 
 
 And 
 
 "Gavarushka tried to take her eyes." 
 
 he slept 
 
 a great deal on 
 
 the rocks, letting the 
 
 silken -haired ones come 
 
 and go as they would, not 
 
 caring where they were, or who might seize 
 
 them. He went away from Tolstoi very early 
 
 in the fall, long before the ground was white, 
 
 and Kotik, who had been watching all the time 
 
 from the rocks above, crept down and took 
 
 his place. 
 
 Atagh swam out slowly around Tolstoi Head 
 and across to the Great Reef. Then he turned 
 to the north, to the soft resting' place on Zoltoi
 
 66 
 
 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 Sands, where he had often slept in the after- 
 noons when he was a bachelor. Then he crept 
 slowly out of the water, his broad feet sinking 
 deep in the shining sands. Then he shook 
 himself, and looked backward toward Tolstoi, 
 and groaned again over all the cares of life, 
 and the tears made wet strips across his 
 cheeks. Then he shuffled back over Zoltc i 
 sands to the Great Dunes, where the sands lie 
 in smooth banks between tufts of tall rye-grass. 
 Here Atagh lay down and went to sleep. 
 
 And when Kotik came back in the spring 
 and climbed over the broken ice-floes to take 
 his place at Tolstoi, Atagh was sleeping yet. 
 
 And now the dreary days have come to the 
 twin Mist-Islands. The ships of the Pirate 
 Kings swarm in 
 islands of the 
 
 have found the /'\\ \ way. The great 
 
 has ceased to roar, 
 cannot keep 
 
 the Icy Sea. To the 
 v Four Mountains they 
 
 Smoke-Island 
 because it 
 
 The decks of the schooners, smeared with their milk and their blood."
 
 T/ie Silken- Haired that Never Come. 67 
 
 them back. The blood of the silken-haired ones, 
 thousand by thousand, stains the waves as they 
 rise and fall. The decks of the schooners are 
 smeared with their milk and their blood, while 
 their little o nes are left on the rocks 
 
 the islands of the Four Mountains they have found their way 
 
 to wail and starve. The cries of the little ones 
 go up day and night from all the deserted homes, 
 from Tolstoi and Zoltoi, from Lukanin and 
 Vostochni, and from the sister island on Staraya 
 Artil. Meanwhile, Kotik and Unga, Polsi and 
 Holostia-k, stand in their places, roaring and 
 groaning, waiting for the ' /.^ f , 
 
 silken-haired ones that 
 never come. 
 
 Their call comes 
 10 me across the ^SsSSSf^" 
 
 " The dreary days have come."
 
 68 Matka and Kotik. 
 
 green waves as I write. I turn my eyes away 
 from Tolstoi Head and put aside my pen. It 
 is growing very chill. The mist is rising from 
 the Salt Lagoon, and there is no brightness on 
 the Zoltoi sands. 
 
 Written on St. Paul, 
 
 The Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea, 
 July 28, 1896.
 
 I
 
 CALENDAR OF THE MIST-ISLANDS. 
 
 (Dates approximate and variable.) 
 
 Matka turns back from the Farallones, January i. 
 Holostiak turns back from Cape Flattery, February i. 
 Atagh leaves the Fairweather grounds, March 20. 
 Atagh passes Cape Cheerful, April 20. 
 Atagh reaches Tolstoi, May i. 
 The beach-masters follow, May 15. 
 Arrival of Polsi, May 10. 
 Arrival of Holostiak, July i. 
 Arrival of Matka, June 15. 
 
 Arrival of silken-haired ones, June 10 to July 20. 
 Height of responsibilities of life, July 10 to July 20. 
 Birth of Kotik, June 20. 
 Birth cf majority of young, July 5. 
 Trampling of young in battle, June 20 to July 20. 
 The drives, July i to July 25. 
 Minda returns (yearling), August i. 
 Kotik learns to swim, August i. 
 Atagh grows hungry, sleepy, and gentle, August 5. 
 Atagh goes away to feed, August 10. 
 Polsi takes his place, August 10. 
 Atagh returns fat and lively, September 15. 
 The pirate ships enter the Icy Sea, August i. 
 Lakutha starves to death on the rocks, August 15. 
 The Storm King drives the pirates from the Icy Sea, Sep- 
 tember 15. 
 
 Kotik is weaned, November 10. 
 The long swim begins, November 15.
 
 APPENDIX TO MATKA AND KOTK. 
 
 j* 
 
 THE MIST ISLANDS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS. 
 
 St. Paul Island, the scene of the Story of Matka and 
 Kotik, is one of a group of five rocky islands lying in 
 the southeastern portion of Bering Sea, in Lat. 57 N. 
 and Long. 170 W. This island and its companion, 
 St. George, each about a township in area, are the only 
 important ones in the group. The islands were first dis- 
 covered by the Russian navigator Gerassim Pribilof in 
 1786 and bear his name today. In summer they 
 are all but constantly enveloped in fog occasioned by 
 the meeting of the warm Japan current with the icy 
 current from the Arctic. Hence they are appropriately 
 called the "Mist Islands." They are volcanic in origin, 
 treeless and without possibilities of cultivation. Yet 
 their plains are covered with wild flowers (p. 15) and 
 their valleys with luxuriant grasses. In winter the skies 
 are clear and the weather coid. Snow falls and late in 
 the winter the drift ice from the Arctic packs (p. 50) in 
 for a time about them. There are no harbors or safe 
 anchorage against the storms of winter and the islands 
 are therefore absolutely cut off from one another and 
 from the rest of the world during the greater part of the 
 year. 
 
 (69)
 
 ;o Appendix. 
 
 Cape Newenham on the mainland of Alaska is the 
 nearest land to the eastward, three hundred miles away. 
 To the south, two hundred miles distant, is Unalaska 
 Island, in the Aleutian archipelago. This island contains 
 the rugged old mountain Makushin (p. 53). It con- 
 tains also the harbor ol Unalaska, now familiar as a way- 
 station for vessels bound for St. Michaels and the Yukon. 
 The twin passes of Akutan and Unalaga separate Una- 
 laska Island from Akutan Island, on which is the volcano 
 (p. 52) of the same name. The next island to the east- 
 ward is the "Moss Island," Unimak, on which is the 
 beautiful snow-clad cone of Shishaldin, (p. 52) rising 
 nearly ten thousand feet in height. This is "where the 
 Storm King has his kitchen." There are probably 
 branch kitchens at Akutan and Makushin, for all three 
 volcanos ' 'steam and puff. ' ' 
 
 Near Unalaska Island, and between it and the Pribilof 
 Islands are the "Twin Smoke Islands," Old and New 
 Bogoslof. The first of these (p. 36) rose a red hot 
 mountain peak trom the sea in 1795. Beside it for a long 
 time stood a single shaft of stone known as Sail Rock. 
 This disappeared in 1883 and a second burning mountain 
 (p. 64) rose from the sea to the accompaniment of sub- 
 terranean thunders and earthquake shocks. This second 
 island has now too ceased to ' 'sputter day and night, 
 though it is still warm. 
 
 The "Twin Storm Islands" (p. 58) lie at the other 
 side of Bering Sea, near the coast of Kamchatka. These 
 are the islands of Bering and Medni, the Komamltn^ki. 
 or islands of the Commander, so named in honor of their 
 discoverer, Vitus Bering. While returning from his
 
 Appendix. 7 1 
 
 momentous voyage of 1741, in which he found the main- 
 land of the American continent in the vicinity of Mt. St. 
 Elias, his vessel was wrecked on the island which bears 
 his name, and there Bering and most of his company 
 died. The survivors escaped the following spring, taking 
 with them knowledge of the immense herds of fur-bear- 
 ing animals which made their homes on the new islands. 
 These islands are intimately connected in history with the 
 Pribilof Islands because it was the search for new island 
 homes and new herds of ' 'sea bears' ' or fur seals that led 
 forty-five years later to Pribilof 's discovery. 
 
 THE FUR SEALS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS. 
 
 The fur seals of the southern hemisphere are widely 
 scattered among the islands of the South Seas. Those 
 of the north are confined to the islands of the North 
 Pacific Ocean, and chiefly to the Pribilof and Commander 
 groups, with certain islands in the Kuril chain to the 
 north of Japan. We are indebted to Georg Wilhelm 
 Steller, a German naturalist connected with Bering's 
 expedition of 1741, for our first knowledge of the fur 
 seals of Bering Sea. 
 
 The hair seal, Isogh, and Sivutch, the sea lion, share 
 with the fur seals the shores of St. Paul and all three live 
 in neighborly relations. The hair seal (p. 25) is the true 
 seal. The fur seals are more properly what their dis- 
 coverer called them, "sea bears." The sea lion (p. 44) 
 of the Pribilofs is the same animal that makes its home on 
 Ano Nuevo Island and the Farallones and has made the 
 Seal Rocks of San Francisco famous. He was one of the 
 ' 'four beasts of the sea' ' which Steller studied in the 
 Commander Islands in 1741.
 
 72 Appendix. 
 
 The sea otter (p. 37) Chignotto or Bobrik, a timid 
 creature whose fur is now of exceeding great value, once 
 lived in the kelp beds about the Pribilof Islands, particu- 
 larly Otter Island, which has its name from this fact. 
 The Russians called it ' 'Bobrik." But Bobrik has aband- 
 onded these shores as well as most other haunts accessible 
 to man, and his race is well nigh extinct. 
 
 Amogada, (p. 37) the Pacific Walrus, was once well 
 known to the shores of St. Paul, and great areas on Morjovi 
 beach are still covered with his bones. Until within very 
 recent years a herd of three hundred or more of these 
 beasts made Walrus Island, just off the shore of St. Paul, 
 a summer resting place ; but the sportsman' s rifle has driven 
 them back to their fastnesses in the Arctic. The picture 
 of Amogada is taken from a mounted specimen, in the 
 National Museum at Washington, captured on Walrus 
 Island. 
 
 Eichkao, (p. 41) the blue fox, is and always has been 
 an interesting inhabitant of the Pribilof Islands. Steller 
 found him on the Commander Islands also, and Bering's 
 men had difficulty in keeping their dead and dying com- 
 rades from his teeth. His "fox walks" today on St. Paul 
 radiate in all directions, from his dens in the castle-like 
 rock piles, to the cliffs where Epatka, the sea parrot (p. 63) 
 and his associates the guilemots and chutchkis, (p. 17) 
 have their nests. His long silken fur is scarcely less valu- 
 able than that of the fur seal itself. 
 
 There were no native people on the Pribilof Islands 
 when found. This is a characteristic of islands occu- 
 pied by the fur seals as breeding homes. The Russians, 
 however, early in the present century brought over
 
 Appendix. 73 
 
 Aleuts from Attu and Unalaska islands to work the fur 
 seal industry and the descendants of these now look upon 
 the islands as their home. They live in two very comfort- 
 able villages, the one on St. Paul numbering about two 
 hundred souls, that on St. George, about half as many. 
 Each village has its ' 'company' ' store, its church of the 
 Greek-Russian faith and its English school. Agents of 
 the Government and agents of the Company leasing the 
 fur seal industry, care for the welfare of the Aleuts, for 
 the seals and the various interests involved. 
 
 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FUR SEALS. 
 
 The animals spend only the summer on the islands. 
 The adult males land early in May (pp. 17 and 49) and 
 are followed in June and July by the females. Each 
 1 'beachmaster" (p. 18), in accordance with the polygamous 
 habit of the animals gets about him as many females as he 
 can control. These family groups are called "harems" 
 (p. 22). A group of harems, defined usually by the con- 
 figuration of the coast, is known as a "rookery" (p.5i). 
 There are about fifteen of these rookeries covering about 
 eight miles of shore line. The young are born in June 
 and July. By the first of August the rigid discipline 
 of the harem system relaxes. The beachmasters, which 
 have fasted since their arrival, go away to feed and 
 during the rest of the summer the mothers come and 
 go between the fishing banks far out in Bering Sea and 
 their young on shore. The young learn to swim (p. 35) 
 at the age of six weeks and afterwards spend most of 
 their time in the water. In November, when the severe 
 storms of winter begin, mothers and young leave the
 
 74 Appendix. 
 
 islands. The latter are soon left to their own resources 
 and the former make a rapid and direct journey down 
 through the Pacific Ocean to the latitude of Southern 
 California, where they are found in and about Santa 
 Barbara Channel early in December. The females jour- 
 ney slowly back along the coasts of California, Oregon, 
 and Washington gradually picking up the other classes 
 of animals which do not go so far south, past Vancou- 
 ver Island, across the Gulf of Alaska, by Kadiak and 
 the Shumagins and through the Aleutian passes to their 
 island homes in Bering Sea, where they arrive in June. 
 The adult males spend the winter in the Gulf of Alaska, 
 on the Fairweather grounds, and return earlier to the 
 islands. 
 
 THE FUR SEAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 Owing to the polygamous habit of the fur seals the 
 greater part of the males born are superfluous. The 
 principle of killing therefore, as worked out by the 
 Russians and followed by our Government in its man- 
 agement of the fur seal industry, is to confining the 
 killing to the young males of three years of age. These 
 younger males herd by themselves (p. 54) at a distance 
 from the breeding grounds. The Aleuts surround them 
 while asleep at night and drive them up (p. 55) in great 
 droves to " Asascardano " (p. 57), to be killed and 
 skinned. The pelts, cured in salt, are shipped to San 
 Francisco and thence to London to be dressed and dyed. 
 From London they are distributed to furriers the world 
 over to bemade into garments. 
 
 The Russian government managed its fur seal industry
 
 Appendix. 75 
 
 through a corporation to which exclusive privileges were 
 granted. When the fur seal islands, together with the 
 territory of Alaska, came in 1867 into the control of the 
 United States by treaty with Russia, our Government at 
 once leased the industry to a commercial company, re- 
 serving to itself a royalty or tax on each skin taken. 
 For twenty years one hundred thousand skins were taken 
 annually and the tax, together with import duties on 
 dressed skins brought back for consumption in the United 
 States, yielded a revenue to our Government of about 
 thirteen and one-half millions of dollars. The cost o 
 the entire territory of Alaska was only seven million two 
 hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 About the year 1889 the fur seal herd was found to be 
 decreasing. In 1890 it was little more than one-half its 
 normal size and the quota of skins fell to twenty thou- 
 sand. Since that time the herd has steadily declined. 
 There was in 1880 doubtless two million and a half of 
 animals of all classes. Today there are probably not 
 more than three hundred and fifty thousand. 
 
 PELAGIC SEALING. 
 
 The decline of the herd was due to the development of 
 a rival sealing industry at sea (pp. 66 and 67). This had 
 been carried on from the earliest times by the Indians of 
 Cape Flattery and Vancouver Island. These Indians 
 went out in their open canoes a day's journey and hunted 
 with the spear stragglers from the herd as it passed north- 
 ward on the spring migration. White man's ingenuity 
 soon found a way to increase this irregular supply of seal- 
 skins. Schooners (p. 66) were employed to carry the In-
 
 76 Appendix. 
 
 clians and their canoes out to the main body of the herd, to 
 move with them day by day and to provide a refuge for 
 them at night and in times of storm. The plan was marvel- 
 lously successful. From two or three vessels in 1879 the 
 fleet of the ' ' Pirate Kings ' ' (p. 67) grew to a maximum of 
 122, in 1892 each vessel carrying from five to twenty 
 canoes and hunting crews. The field of its operations 
 gradually extended over the whole migration route of the 
 animals. The catch of skins rose from a few thousand a 
 year to a maximum of one hundred and forty thousand. 
 The effect of land killing had been to keep the males at 
 a low point. The killing at sea, necessarily indiscriminate, 
 fell most heavily upon the females. The investigations of 
 the Commission of 1896 proved that fully three-fourths 
 of the animals taken at sea were of this class. With 
 the mother seal, killed in the spring off the Northwest 
 Coast, her unborn offspring died; in Bering Sea her death 
 involved that of her dependent offspring on the rookeries 
 by starvation. By actual count in the autumn of 1896 at 
 least sixteen thousand young seals were found to have 
 suffered the fate of little "Lakutha" (p. 64). It was 
 to emphasize these facts that the story of Matka and 
 Kotik was written. 
 
 THE FUR SEAL QUESTION. 
 
 The effect of pelagic sealing was foreseen from the 
 first though not fully understood. While it was confined 
 to the open waters of the Pacific Ocean no action seemed 
 possible. But when the pelagic fleet entered Bering Sea, 
 in 1886, and attacked the herd on its summer feeding 
 grounds, the United States sent revenue cutters to warn
 
 Appendix. 77 
 
 the schooners out of Bering Sea and to seize and confiscate 
 those persisting in taking seals. This action was based 
 upon the right claimed by Russia in 1821 to seize and 
 confiscate vessels caught killing seals in the waters of 
 Bering Sea. Among the vessels seized by United 
 States officers in 1887 (p. 66) were Canadian vessels. 
 A diplomatic discussion with Great Britain followed which 
 finally resulted in a Treaty of Arbitration, agreed upon 
 in February, 1892, by which the questions of jurisdiction 
 in Bering 1 Sea, claimed by the United States in the inter- 
 ests of her fur seal herd, were left to a court of arbitration 
 for decision. 
 
 This Arbitration Tribunal met in Paris in the spring of 
 1893, reaching its decision in August of that year. The 
 decision was adverse to the contention of the United 
 States and, in accordance with the stipulations of the 
 treaty covering this event, the Tribunal formulated a set 
 of regulations governing pelagic sealing by which the two 
 governments might jointly accomplish ' ' the protection 
 and preservation" of the fur seal herd when on the 
 high seas. 
 
 These regulations followed the analogy of our common 
 game laws. A close season in May, June, and July was 
 established during which the mother seal might bring 
 forth her young unmolested. This was supplemented by 
 a protected zone of sixty miles radius about the islands 
 in which she might feed in safety when pelagic sealing 
 was resumed in August and September. 
 
 These regulations failed utterly of their purpose be- 
 cause the mother seals feed not within the protected 
 area but far beyond it. Hence they were slaughtered
 
 7 8 Appendix, 
 
 without mercy in August and September and their help- 
 less young died of starvation on the rookeries. The result 
 was most disastrous and the season of 1894, the first un- 
 der the regulations, saw the largest catch in the history 
 of pelagic sealing and was consequently the most des- 
 tructive to the herd. 
 
 The failure of the regulations was at once apparent 
 and our Government made efforts to secure their imme- 
 diate reconsideration. To this Great Britain, standing 
 for the interests of the pelagic sealers, would not consent, 
 at least till the expiration of the five-year trial period. In 
 preparation for such reconsideration the two nations 
 agreed in 1896 to submit the whole question of seal life 
 to a new investigation. The investigations for the United 
 States were under the direction of President Jordan of 
 Stanford University, with associates from the Scientific 
 Bureaus at Washington. Professor Thompson of Dun- 
 dee, Scotland, with a number of associates, represented 
 Great Britain. 
 
 At the close of the investigations in November, 1897, 
 the two commissions, known as the Conference of Fur 
 Seal Experts, came together in Washington and after a 
 discussion of the results of their labors reached a substan- 
 tial agreement as to the facts in the case. These facts 
 had prior to this time been, for the most part, in dispute. 
 By the joint agreement pelagic sealing was designated 
 as the cause of the decline in the herd, and it was further 
 shown that pelagic sealing in any form was incompatible 
 with the protection and preservation of the herd. 
 
 Upon the basis of this agreement the fur seal question 
 passed into the hands of the Joint High Commission
 
 Appendix. 79 
 
 which was called together at Quebec in September, 1898, 
 to consider and act upon a number of questions, among 
 them the fur seal question, at issue between the United 
 States and Canada. There it has rested without result 
 since. The tragedy of the "Mist Islands" was reenacted 
 during the summers of 1898 and 1899 and for aught we 
 can now see, it will be repeated in 1900. 
 
 GEORGE ARCHIBALD CLARK. 
 
 Secretary to Bering Sea Fur Seal Commission of 1896-97. 
 Stanford University, 
 March 31, 1900.
 
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